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Business & Tech

Holy (Flying) Cow! Artwork to Greet New Colonial Cafe Customers

Emily Grelck's artwork to be displayed when restaurant opens June 10.

Hungry people looking to check out the new Crystal Lake Colonial Cafe June 10 will be greeted by something a little unusual—The Flying Cow.

St. Charles native and artist Emily Grelck and her parents Dick and Carol recently installed Emily’s latest commissioned artwork, The Flying Cow, in the restaurant, which is under construction at 5689 N.W. Highway. 

For Emily, a recent University of Illinois Chicago graduate with a degree in art education, this is the second Flying Cow she’s created for Colonial. Last year Emily created a similar Flying Cow for the St. Charles Colonial.

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“They came to me and said they wanted another one just like it. But I thought about it and made it a little different," Emily said. Plus Cris (Anderson, wife of owner Tom Anderson) wanted to emphasize fresh fruits and veggies more so I put in the truck and crates of produce.”

“Emily just drew what she wanted and then I cut it out,” Dick Grelck, Emily’s father, said.

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The winged, big-eyed cow appears to be flying out from the artwork. To achieve that effect, Dick, an engineer by trade, experimented with shimming up the cow’s body by varying degrees while Emily stood above on a ladder until she determined the angle was just right. He then measured and cut a seven-degree angle on two-by-fours supporting the flying cow.

“Seven degrees doesn’t seem like much, but it’s spread over a large space," he said.

A father-daughter project? “Naw, It was a daughter project. I was just….available,” said the proud father.

Emily was in the second grade when she noticed she had a talent others did not. “Kids started asking me to help them (with art). But they weren’t asking other kids. Then they said, ‘Why don’t you do the whole thing. Because you’re better,’” she said.

Emily received $2,500 for The Flying Cow. ”That (price) was for material and labor,” she said. “I decided to treat it as a full-time job with my time at $20 an hour.”

Clinton Anderson, director of operations and a fourth-generation principal of Colonial Cafe, likes the way the piece captures the past and present of the restaurant.

"It's a bit like seeing Colonial throughout the years in one piece of art—with the flying cow from the 1901 dairy route serving farm fresh ingredients to our newest home of the famous Kitchen Sink," Anderson said.

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